Lucrezia Borgia's Comb
"If people knew the reasons for my fear, they'd be able to understand my pain." -- Phonetic Trigger (translated) was created by an unidentified Renaissance alchemist. It transmits the mindset of Lucrezia Borgia via the crystals and ionized metal of the comb and grants the user mind controlling abilities, though at the price of great personal jealousy and anger. Background The comb was discovered when the Warehouse received a report of a college student attacking his girlfriend and then having no memory of it. The comb is now stored in area 399D611 of Warehouse 13. Curiously, there is a portrait of Lucrezia in the warehouse containment hold that Arthur Nielsen placed with the comb when it was recovered. The picture seemed to be alive; when Artie first came in, the face in the portrait was expressionless but when he put the comb down and looked up the face had a sorrowful look. Observing this, Artie said to the picture: "Yeah, I know, love hurts." How It Works An alchemist created the comb of Lucrezia Borgia to be a "Renaissance roofie." Triggered by a woman who is in the "ruling" class, single, successful, survivor of family tragedies and the death of loved ones and connected to a young man who she believes needs her protection. This comb transmits the mindset of Lucrezia Borgia via the crystals and ionized metal of the comb. It uses a phonetic trigger written in high-brow Italian, roughly 15th Century: Se li uomini sapessino le ragioni della paura mia, capir potrebbero il mio dolor (which translates to: if people knew the reasons for my fear, they'd be able to understand my pain). This comb comes with a jewellery box, within which the phonetic trigger can be found.Pilot Whoever the comb takes control of, it makes that person have a deep yearning to be loved, just like Lucrezia had. However, the wearer will do anything to obtain love, and usually begins a bloody reign of terror and destruction. The comb also has mind control powers; when the user reads the trigger aloud, the comb releases a bright light that alters the brain chemistry of anybody that sees it and essentially brainwashes them. The indicator that a person is brainwashed is that they keep repeating the trigger. The wearer will have a hole in their heart that will be filled after everybody everywhere is in love with them or is dead. If the comb is neutralized, light seems to shoot out of its victims and return to it and all the comb's victims have no idea what they did or what happened. Real World Connections Lucrezia Borgia was the illegitimate daughter of Rodrigo Borgia, the powerful Renaissance Valencian who later became Pope Alexander VI, and Vannozza dei Cattanei. Lucrezia's family later came to epitomize the ruthless Machiavellian politics and sexual corruption alleged to be characteristic of the Renaissance Papacy. Lucrezia was cast as a femme fatale, a manner in which she has been portrayed in many works of art, novels, and films. Very little is known of Lucrezia as a historical personage, and her complicity in the political machinations of her brothers and father cannot be categorically determined at this time. Her father or brother certainly arranged several marriages for her to important or powerful men, in order to advance their own political ambitions. Lucrezia was married to Giovanni Sforza (Lord of Pesaro), Alfonso of Aragon (Duke of Bisceglie), and Alfonso d'Este (Duke of Ferrara). Tradition has it that Alfonso of Aragon was an illegitimate son of the King of Naples and that Cesare may have had him murdered after his political value waned. Trivia *This was the first artifact Pete and Myka collected as Warehouse agents. Appearances * "Pilot" References Comb Category:Psychological Artifacts Category:Season 1 Artifacts